Krishna Mohan Banerjea .and
Arian Witness to Christ:
Jesus Chri.st the True Prajapati
T. V. PHILlp·
Krishna Mohan Banerjea (1813-1885) was the foremost Indian
Christian apologist .in the Nineteenth Century and was th~ chief
exponent of the "fulfilment theory."
Born in a Kulin Brahmin family in Bengal and educated in Hindu
College, he .came under the influence of Derozio and thus belonged
to the radical youth group known as "Young Bengal" which played a
-decisive role in the Bengal Renaissance. The "Young Bengal" of
which Krishna Mohan was a leader, greatly fascinated QY western
-culture and civilisation, was extremely critical of the then ewsting
religious and social structures and wanted to reform them; and they
thus represented the "historic conflict" between "the old and the
new." The conflict with Hindu Orthodoxy resulted in Krishna
Mohan's excommunication from his family.
At the age of 18, Krishna Mohan accepted Christian faith and
joined the Anglican Church. In 1839, after his theological studies
in Bishop's College, he was ordained and was the first Indian to become
a priest in the Anglican Church in Bengal. He was in charge
of Christ Church at Cornwallis Square for several years and then a
-professor at Bishop'S College. After his retirement from Bishop's
College, he was made honorary examining Chaplain to the Bish
Calcutta and a domestic Chaplain to the Viceroy. He was also the
:first President of the Bengal Christian Association when it was
organised in 1868.
Krishna Mohan was too great a person to be confined to Church
circles. Very early in his life, he took an active part in movements
and organisations which worked for the social and political transformation
of Indian society and continued this interest throughout his
life. The Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge, The
Bethune Society, The-Calcutta Text Book Society, The Bengal Social
Science Association, The Family Literary Club, The Asiatic Society
o()f Bengal, Index Association, The Bible Society, Calcutta University,
The Bengal British India Society, The British India Association, The
• Dr 'l'. V. Pbilip i. tbe Editor of Tie Indian jOUrtUll of Tieolon.
lndia Leagu~, a~d The' Indian Asso~iati~n ~~re ~~me of th~ ~~ve~~nt8
and organisations in the Nineteenth Century which contributed to
the Bengal Renaissance and with which ~rishna Mohan was intimately
connected. He was a Senior Vice-President of the Bethune Society.,.
President of the India League, and President of the Indian Association
when it was organised in 1876 under the leadership of Surendranath
Banerjea. He was so much respected by the Calcutta community
that Arabinda Poddar later wrote, "In every literary assembly his was
a prominent presence, in every public function eagerly sought for."1
Susobhan Sarkar also stated that in later life Krishna Mohan Was universally
respected and "was the first choice as a president for a society
or a meeting."1
The composite nature of the Bengal Renaissance is often summarised
as historical discovery, linguistic and literary modernisation
and socio-religious reformation. While William Jones represented
historical discovery, Ram Mohan Roy, the socio-religious reformation,
and William Carey, development of Bengali language, Krishna Mohan,
to a lesser degree, was involved in all three aspects of the Renaissance.
Though active in political movements of his day, Krishna Mohan was
more of a social and religious reformer; He fought against caste and
idolatory, opposed polygamy, kulinism and the sale of girls in
marriage and sati rites, and advocated the education of women. He
considered social upliftment of women to be a yardstick by which to,
measure the' social progress of a country.
One of the important factors which helped the Bengal Renaissance
was a knowledge of European history as well as a knowledge of India's
past. At the time of Krishna Mohan, the study of history was greatly
neglected in India. Krishna Mohan in his various rwritings and
speeches stressed the value of historical studies and he himself undertook
research into India's past history. Along with a knowledge of
the history of European Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, the
Puritan struggle in England and the Italian, French and American
Revo~utions, a knowledge of the glorious periods in Indian history gave
the educated Bengalis a sense of pride as well as courage to undertake
reform activities.
Krishna Mohan's contribution to the literary renaissance in Sengal
is greatly acknowledged by historians. He was neither an "AnglicistH
nor an "Orientalist." He encouraged the study of Bengali and
Sanskrit as well as English., He contributed much to the development
of Bengali language. He wrote in the vernacular at a time
when vernacular was a despised dialect, as he thought that the surest
path to national greatness lay through the improvement of national
literature. His Bengali works are numerous and are on varied subjects.
His services to oriental literature and higher education were
recognised when Calcutta University conferred on him the honorary
1 Arabinda POddar. R~1fDilltmee i~ Bf"gal. 1970. p. 53. '
,. Susobhan Sarkar. Bengal :R'1UI1I~dJ,Cf and Other Ella:y,. 1970. p. 24.
'is:
,degree of Doctor of Law in 1876. In recognition of his services te
. the ' nation, the British Government in 1885 conferred on him the
. rank of Companion of the Indian Empire.
Dne important element in East-West encounter that took place
'in the Nineteenth Century was that between Christianity and
Hinduism. It was the occasion and context for the publicatipn of a
large number of Christian apologetic writings, both by western renaissance
and by Indian Christians. The apologies thus produced
!by Indian Christians marked the beginning of indigenous theological
.thinking among Protestants in India. Krishna Mohan was the most
.outstanding of the apologists of this period.
In the Nineteenth Century the predominant attitude of western
.missionaries towards Indian religions, culture and philosophy was
rather unfavourable. Missionaries shared the western imperial
sentiment and belief in cultural superiority, agreeing with' Charles
Grant, the spokesman of the evangelicals in Britain, when he insisted
that it was not only inborn weakness that made the Hindus degenerate
but the nature of their religion. Alexander Duff could see in
India only "the spiritual gloom of a gathering tempest, relieved only
by the lightening glance of Almighty's indignation, around a waste
and moral wilderness, where all life dies and death lives." The
Christian task for him was to do everything possible to "deniolis~ so
gigantic a fabric of idolatory and superstition."
Missionary apologies of this period were polemical in character
and meant to prove the superiority of Christianity over Indian religions.
These apologies vehemently criticised Indian religions and
philosophies and appeared "too much in the character of an Ishma'
elite whose hand is against every man." Such a negative approach
resulted in intense controversies and conflicts in the Nineteenth
Century between Christian missionaries and Hindus and it only h~lped'
to alienate Hindus from Christianity.
In considering Krishna'Mohan as an apologist, we need to distinguish
his writings written before 1865 from those written after. In
his earlier writings, his attempt, like that of the western missionaries,
was to expose the errors and weaknesses of Hindu philosophy ~md
doctrines' and to 'set forth the Christian claims. For example, in-his
Dialogue$ on Hindu Philosophy, the most important of his earlier
works, he refuted the arguments for the divine authority of the Vedas
and repeatedly argued that the fundamental principles of Hindu
philosophy are essentially the same as those of Buddhist philosophy
and that Hindu philosophy in essence is atheistic. However, h is later
writings were meant to establish a positive relationship between
HindlJisin and Christianity, an Arian witness to Christ.
The most important of Krishna Mohan's later writings are : The
Arian Witness (1875), Two Essays as Supplements to the Arian Witnm
(1880) and The".~~lation B 3tW Je~ 9h. ri~ti(l'Lity a:d Hinillism .(1881) .
.41. these writings.:, he .mJ.k~s ) i~ .c.lear tll~~ . Hind.u!sm is the religion of
. . .... . \0 • ..
.. ~." ,.. . . .... ... ~ ! '.., .. , ~ . . .-~ - 't .. - - .. ... ~ ... - ..,. . """ I ~
the Vedas and that it is theistic and then: exp)'uni3 his theory, based on
the ideas of sacrifke found in the Vedas and in the Bible, that Christianity
is the fulfilment of Hinduism. He states t:vo propositions.
In the first place, he says "that the fundamental principles of Christian
doctrine in relation to the salvation' of the world. find a remarkable
counterpart in the vedic principles of .primitive Hinduism in relation
to the doctrine: of sin and the redemption of the sinner by the efficacy
of sacrifice, itself a figure of Prajapati, the Lord and Saviour of the
Creation, who had given himself up as an offering for that purpose."
Secondly, he states "that the mejming of 'Prajapati,' an appellative,
variously described as a Purusha begotten in the beginning, as
Viswakarma the Creator of all, singularly coincides 'with the m~aD:ing
of the name and offices of the historical' reality Jesus Christ, and
that no other person than Jesus of Nazareth has ever appeare~ 'in the
world claiming the 'character and position of the self-sacrificing
Prajapati at the same time both mortal and immortal.'" .
According to Krishna Mohan, the first and foremost rites in vedic,
religion. on which they firmly relied as thl; great cure .for all evils of
life and the secret of all success in the world, were the sacrificial rites ..
The high estimation in which the rites of sacrifice were held in the
Vedas appears from the date and authorsh!p, assigned to their insti-.
tution, the great virtue attributed to their performance, bo* spiritual
and temporal, and the benefits they were said to have conferred on
the gods themselves.
In the "V:edas, the Lord of Creation is the author of sacrifice and
its date is reckoned as coeval with creation. In the post-Diluvian
world the first act of the surviving patriarch, wqom the Indo-Aryans
called Manu, was a sacrificial offering. The institution existed from
time immemorial and the Vedas knew no time when the sacrifices
were not ·practised. The world was called into being by virtue of
sacrifice and it was considered a potent remedy for all evils. It was
the good "ferrying boat" by which men escape sin. "0 illustrious
Varuna, thou quicken our understa~ding, while we are practising
t his ceremony, ,that we may embark on ttie good ferrying boat by
which we ~ay escape all sins" (R.V. vii. 42, 3). The animal offered
by the worshipper was his own ransom. WhiJe offering the limb of
the animal to the fire, the worshipper prayed, "Whatever sins we
have committed by day or night, thou art the annulment thereof."
The benefits of sacrifice were not confined to men. It was the way
by which the Devas, who were at first mortals, were promoted to
heaven. The same is still the way for minkiri1 to receive the felicity
of heaven.
For Krishna Mohan, the key to 'the understanding of the meanina ',
of sacrifice was the self-sacrifice of Prajapati . . , o .
Now the secret of this extreme importance attached 1:Q. s:tGrlfice,
and ~!\I'Je¥ ... t? Jh.e. p~~~~ i~n~e:!~~~~ng of:. t~e. ~~Je ~~~~ot was
! The Relation between Cbriltia,,;t~ tmd HintIuism, 1'. 1.
, , ,
the se1f;;sacrifice of Prajapati, the Lord or Supporter. of C(eation~
"tlie Purusha begotten before the ·world, the Viswakarrna,. the
Author of the Universe." The idea is found in all the three
Vedas-Rek, Yajus and Saman-in Samhitas, Brahmanas.
Ayanyakas, and Upanishads. The Divine Purusha who ga~e
himself up as a sacrifice for the Devas, i.e., emancipated mortals,
had, it is said, deserved and got a mortal body fit for the sacrifice,
and himself became half mortal and half immortal. It is added
that he made sacrifice a reflection of himself; that the equine
body was found fit for sacrifice, and that whenever a horseoffering
(asver-meda) was solemnized, it became no other than
an offering of himself .•
Krishna Mohan refers to certain other passages where the sacrificeof
Prajapati is spoken of as a sacrifice made for all. "Let me offer
myself in all creatures and all creatures in myself" (Satapatha 13.7,1).
He also emphasises the fact that the Lord of Creation who sacrificed
himself was "half mortal and half immortal." Thus, for Krishna
Mohan, the idea of the divine person-half mortal and half immortal
-sacrificing himself for his creation is a prominent doctrine of the
Vedas.
After discussing ·the meaning of sacrifice in the Vedas, Krishna:
Mohan points out that it is impossible to ignore the close approximationof
the vedic sacrificial rites to some of the mysteries of the Christian
faith.
"The first acts of Religion" consisted in the offerin:g of Sacrifice ..
This is curiously coincident with the Biblical account of Abel's
offering in the Ante-Diluvian World. Noa's offering in the Post-·
Diluvian World equally corresponds to the paka offering of Manu,
the surviving man after the Flood in Vedic legends. In thewhole
description of the patriarchal dispensation, the Veda seems:
to follow the lines of the Bible-the only difference being in thegreater
clearness and still the greater firmness arid certainty of
decision with which monotheism is upheld in the Jewish Scriptures:
Almost in all other respects, the Vedas represent with
equal clearness the ideals of the patriarchal dispensation in the
ages of Noa, of Abraham, of Melchisedec, of Job and of other
similar characters noticed in the Bible-when religious devotion
was manifested by sacrifices and offerings as types of the DivineSaviour,
"the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
Indeed they indicate a state of religious thought still closer to·
the Christian ideal in its maturity.i
Krishn~ Mohan explains that the idea that the Lord of Creation was.
half mortal and half immortal is a nearer approach to the ideal of "Our
~ Ihid., p. J2.
• TIPO EIIOY' ., Swnl",.."tl to tlr. Anflfl Wi'''''1 pp~ 69-10.
.78 \
,~
Loi-(r"Ia{manuel" and that the idea 'th'at':ttle" L'j;d '0£ the 'tflli~ t'Se
aacrmced all " creatureS to Himself and·: ventually s~c"rificed Hitn~elf
for them fits in with St ~aul's idea (though conversely expressed)
that, "If Christ died for all, then all were dead.," Krishna Mohan
explains: "When therefore th~ Author of the Universe is said to
have first sacrificed all creatures to himself and in the end sacrificed
himself also, we may take the first for the sentenc~ of c:>nde:nnation
on all creatures for sin, and the 'second as a self-offering of the divine
sacrificer-for their redemption-Himself the just and the justifier
of the sinners.'" "
Thus, for Krishna Mohan, th'e biblical do::trine of salvation by
the sacrifice of Christ finds a rem:ukable counterpart in the vedic
understanding of salvation by the self-sacrifice of Christ. The;} he "
discusses how Jesus and Jesus alone fulfils what Prajapati stood for
in the vedic tradition and that Jesus is the true Prajapati. '
Krishna Mohan points out that the doctrine of self-sacrifice, as a
figure of Prajapati, did not.long coutinu~ in its integrity in subsequent
Hindu tradition: the practice of sacrifice indeed continued, but
its origin and object as a figure or type of a self-sacrificing Saviour and
its chief characteristic as "the good vessel which carries us over the
waves of sin" had long vanished from the conceptions of Hindus.
Moreover, not a single character in the Hindu pantheon, or in the
pantheon of. any other nation, has claimed the position of one who
offered himself as a sacrifice for the benefit of humanity. "That
doctrine has long become obsolete. The position of 'Prajapati, himself
the priest and himself the victim, no member of thlt pantheon
has dared to occupy. His thr:me i3 vacant, and his crown without
an owner." Then he goes on to say that the only w-Jrthy successor
of Prajapati is Jesus. "No one can claim that crown and that throne
in the hearts of the Hindus, who are true to the original teaching of
the Vedas, as rightfully as the historical Jesus, who ill name and
character, as we have seen, closely resembles our primitive Prajapati."l
For Krishna Mohan, Jesus Christ not 0:11y resem'Jles the primitive
Prajapati, but he is the true Prajapati. He likens truth in the Veda
to truth revealed in Jesus as a fragment to the whole. "It was in fact
a fragment of a great scheme of salvation, which was at first partially
revealed and has since appeared in its integrity.in the person of Jesus
Christ the true Prajapati of the world, and in His Church-the true
Ark of salvation, by which we may escape from the waves of this sinful
world." For hiIJi, the doctrine of.the Vedas testify or witness to the
truth that Jesus is the true- Prajap~ti.
Christ is the true Prajapati-the true Purusha begotten in the
beginnipg before all .worlds, . and ~~im~elf. both G-J.i" and ~b~;
The doctrines of savmg sacrifice The pnnary rehgLOu3 ntei
,[ :,
.. Ibid., p. 70. , . •. '"
~ The &ration between Christianity and H~,. ~. ,2P: "
3
:. pi .. tJie . Rig-;Veda~~fth.e, . double char~cter, P~t a~l(~. Ticti~'i
yariou.slY. called. Prajapati,j Purusqa, = and Vi~wakarma,-'-Of ' the,
. ArK,. by ,which we
P9ctrines I say which had apPeared in the Vedas amid muc~
rubbish, and things worse tha;t rubbish, may be viewed,as ,fragments
of diamonds spark~ing amid dust and muck, testifying t(}
some invisible fabric of which they were component parts, and
bearing witness like planets over a dark horizon to, the absent
·sun of whom their refulgence was but a feeble reflection.'
)
JfSUS is the true Prajapati, the diamond, the true Sun. The doctrines
oJ the Vedas are only fragments of the diamond sparkling amidst dust,
the planets reflecting, though feebly, the light of the Sun. Then,
Krishna Mohan significantly states, "The Vedas fore-shew the Epi-;
phany of Christ. The Vedas shed a peculiar light UpOJl that dispensation
of Providence which brought Eastern sages to worship·
Christ long before the Westerners even heard of him.'"
Tnus Krishlla Mohan was aware that his fellow Christians would
not accept his ideas. He reminded them that they should not be
surpriSed if they found gei:ms of Christian mysteries in Hindu Vedas.
"Instead of indulging in mere feelings of wonder, let us give glory t(}
God,' whose mercy and grace Icannot be contracted within the narrow
limits 01 our puny ideas." I '
Krishna Mohan acknowledges a historical continuity, between
vedic Hinduism and Christianity in India. According to him, no
person can be a tr~e Hindu without being a true Christian. The
relation between vedic 'doctrine and Christianity is indeed so intimate
that "you can scarcely hold the one without being led to the other,
much less can you hold the one while resisting the claims of the other.'·
Therefore, he makes an earnest appeal to his Hindu friends thus:
Do not think what I have said is my voice only .. " it is the voice
of your primitive ancestors calling upon you in the words of their
Vedas ... If it were possible for those hoary Rishis to .reappear
in the world, they themselves would exhort you, nay beseech you,
implore you, peJjhaps also constrain you not to neglect so great
a salvation, not,to waver in your duty to acknowledge and embrace
the true Prajapati ... The appeal I am pressing is an appeal from
those in whose history, in whose traditions, in whbse language you
take such just pride ... Embracing Christ, you wiH find in Him
a strength and comfort which your ancient Rishis' would l1ave
regarded as a most valuable treasure 'had they lived in. these days.
You will find in him everything worthy of your lineage, worthy of
your antiquity, worthy of your tradition, and at the same time
-just to your chil~en and to 'your successor, in life. ~o
• Ibid., p. 18.
• Ibid., p. 19.
W lHd., pp', '23.24 • .